It was a family affair even with hardly any family there.

Grace Mbugua was surrounded by loved ones as she marked the next step in her remarkable basketball career with a signing ceremony at Danville Christian.

Mbugua made and announced her decision to play for Louisville last month, so Tuesday’s event at the Ernest Martin Warrior Complex was about celebrating that decision with the people she cares most about, both in her adopted hometown and her native country.

Her DCA teammates and coaches were there for her, as well as others from the school and the larger DCA community.

Her older sister was there as well, and she represented family members who were watching online from Kenya.

“It’s just a huge praise of answered prayers and just hard work, and it feels good to know where I’m going to be at for the next four years,” Mbugua said.

It was a joyous occasion, but there were also tears as Mbugua said her thank yous. Both she and DCA coach Billy Inmon, who also choked back tears during his remarks, said she isn’t typically an emotional person.

“It just snuck up on me,” Mbugua said. “I never tend to cry a bunch, but it was just a blessing, all the hard work and dedication (paying off). It’s like, it’s happening, I’m signing with my dream college and getting to play at the highest level possible.”

Inmon, who also choked back tears during his remarks, said Mbugua’s reaction was a combination of jubilation and relief.

“You never see her do that,” Inmon said. “I think for her it’s like, ‘OK, now everything’s finally settled and I can finish this season out,’ because she’s had so much to overcome and now she knows where she’s going. It was just relief and excitement all at the same time, and it just came out there with some emotion.”

Her sister Esther, who traveled from Tennessee to be part of the celebration, also shed some tears as she thanked Mbugua’s DCA family.

“Thank you for accepting her and loving her and caring for her,” Esther Mbugua said.

Grace Mbugua said it was important for her to share the occasion with the school community.

“The people who came are the ones who have been with me throughout the whole journey, so I’m just really thankful and happy that they were here with me for this moment,” she said.

Inmon said their attendance is a reflection of how Mbugua lives out her faith and of her impact at DCA.

“It says a lot about her, it says a lot about her relationship with the Lord, it says a lot about the kind of impact she’s made on the school, especially with the younger ones,” the coach said.

Mbugua was also happy that her parents were able to watch the event online.

“I know they would have wished to be here, but I’m still really very thankful for the sacrifice they made, bringing me here at 12 (years old) to pursue my dreams and making this possible for me,” she said.

Mbugua’s father Dennis congratulated his daughter in a recorded message played for those in attendance.

“(We are) so pleased to see you accomplish great things,” Dennis Mbugua said. “Your hard work and commitment are truly inspiring. My precious daughter, you have proven that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. … We wish you all the very best as you take this next step into adulthood.”

The 6-4 Mbugua, who has been the leading rebounder in Kentucky for the past three seasons, earned scholarship offers from some of the top collegiate programs in the country less than six years after she came to DCA as a sixth-grader with no experience in organized basketball.

“I remember the first time she went into a game I said, ‘Get in the game,’ and she just ran out on the floor. She didn’t even know to check in or what checking in was,” Inmon said. “So for her to have made that type of transition from never playing to doing this, that’s a miracle unto itself.”

Mbugua was a top-five scorer as a junior last season, when she averaged 25.7 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 blocked shots and shot 62 percent from the field to lead the Lady Warriors to their first 12th Region championship and a state tournament appearance that changed her life when she posted 34 points and 14 rebounds in a first-round game.

Schools from power conferences began pursuing her immediately, and she chose Louisville last month over Kentucky, Baylor, Duke, Florida, LSU, North Carolina State and West Virginia.

She suffered a torn ACL in June, but her recovery from surgery to repair that injury remains on or ahead of schedule and she hopes to be able to play again in January.

“Hopefully two more months of therapy and I should be back on the court,” Mbugua said.

Mbugua said she is looking forward to that, but now that she has committed to Louisville and now that the Cardinals’ season has begun, she has also started to think about the next chapter in her story.

“I’m obviously trying to get back to being on the court for my senior year, but the more I watch Louisville and college basketball in general, the more I’m working on getting stronger and maintaining my game and just learning,” she said.

Inmon said Mbugua has been celebrated in Kenya as only the second girl from the African nation to earn a Division I basketball scholarship.

He also said it’s important to note that Mbugua got her opportunity because of her own hard work.

“I hope that everybody understands this stuff doesn’t just happen,” the coach said. “I don’t care how tall you are, I don’t care how athletic you are, if you don’t really dedicate yourself and put in the extra hours you’ll be just another kid that could have been something. … She did all the things that she had to do.”

He also said Mbugua’s faith played a role in her development.

“She’s a basketball player, but she loves the Lord. She’s in the word daily, she’s praying daily, and it’s no shock to me that God has blessed her the way that he’s blessed her,” Inmon said.

Esther Mbugua said Inmon and his family have been a blessing to her sister as well.

“Mom wanted me to thank you for taking care of Grace when she could not be here,” Esther Mbugua said. “Thank you for loving her, and thank you for guiding her. Thank you for always being there for her and thank you for standing in for us when we could not be there. … We thank God for you every day because you all changed our lives completely, and we do not take that for granted.”